Galleon case: Another one bites the dust, this one at Polycom

Videoconference equipment maker Polycom Inc., which has become entangled in the Galleon hedge fund insider trading scandal, said it has put executive Sunil K. Bhalla on administrative leave.

Polycom said on Friday in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that Bhalla’s leave was effective immediately. Bhalla is a senior vice president and general manager in voice communications solutions.

The company did not give a reason for the action, and spokeswoman Caroline Japic declined to comment beyond the filing.

Bhalia appears to be the Polycom employee I referred to in today’s column who reportedly fed Roomy Khan with inside information on the company’s Q4 2005 earnings that netted Raj Rajaratnam and Galleon $165,000 in trading profits and a $22,000 payoff for Khan.

Before joining the Pleasanton-based company in February 2000, the New York Times notes, Bhalla

was vice president and general manager of Polaroid’s Internet business and also served as vice president and general manager for the company’s worldwide digital imaging business.

He has also worked as director of strategic marketing at Computervision, and previously held senior management positions at Digital Equipment Corporation.